TOGETHER THURSDAY

[Kathryn-in-Canada]

Talked with dd.

The cross country trip is off (I deleted the post I made about it earlier today since we won't be able to visit SHEs on the way.)

We were on a 2 hour call and it is just too expensive to do her plan (which was to rent a truck and drive across, with us following along and sharing some of the driving with her since dsil doesn't drive.) We'd have to leave here on September 13th and be back before ds leaves on the 29th (estimated day for him) and to drive both ways would be rushed (it is a minimum 5 day drive across the US, 6 across Canada.) Then there is the complication that she isn't moving to my city but one 6 hours away, so I have to add another day to come back from there. That makes 12 days of driving and I only have 16 days in total. It would be nice to be home with ds for a few days before he leaves for a year.

Dd wanted to take her time coming across and really see the country along the way but that was adding lots of days. Plus, I figure if we spend $50 a day in a prius, she'll be spending at least $200 a day for gas for the truck. Not to mention hotels and food. So the cost for us was the same as a 5 - 7 day cruise and I'd rather do that!

We looked into flying out and renting a car to come back but came up with a price of $5000.

Then I asked her how much a professional mover would cost. The first rough quote came back at $5000, so then she'd only have to across the country on her own. If she flew or took train and bus between cities, she could do it at a fraction of the price and a lot less stress.

So the current plan is that we'll go out around September 15 for a few days visit. Ds will also go out, probably on his way to Australia and visit with her before he leaves. I'll pay for her to come home for ds's goodbye party on September 27.

Sigh.... I wanted to do the long trip but when I first offered to do all this I was 2.5 years younger and ds wasn't leaving at the same time.

[helia]

Oh, too bad the trip is off, Kathryn. Or maybe that works out OK in the end. Nice you'll be abe to see her in september.

OK, you and your cards and productivity are always an inspiration to me!

Lilac, you absolutely amaze me at how well you pay attention to people and details here.

Glad to hear things are still going well with dh, Dee. ((HUGS)) for the anniversary of dShelley's passing.

I am finally relaxing, getting over my fretting over the home front. It sounds like Lily is perking up. The kids have emailed me and told me that she is now trying to run away when it comes time to give her her meds. Good sign!! And I've worked out an oboe lesson for dd15 tonight. I completely bungled her scheduled lesson on Tuesday. Her teacher was very gracious about offering a lesson on Thursday, and ds and dd17 are willing to help get her there and back. The girls each had a test in school this week and did really well on both. Dd17 may very well pull her A- up to an A after all. There is still the final exam next week.

Dh and I went to the awards banquet last night, really the only reason dh is at this conference. He actually doesn't publish in this conference anymore b/c he has shifted his area of work a bit. This is for chip design automation (via software). Dh is moving away from software and more into hardware, into actually designing the microprocessors - as tiny as possible, currently at 1mm size. Dh got several awards related to being among the most prolific and most cited authors in the 50 year history of this conference. I was proud of him! He kept being called back to the podium. In typical dh style, he left his plaques there.

We visited some of our haunts today, including our first and last house we had here. (We lived in 4 different houses during our time here, 3 rentals and 1 purchased.) We went for a walk at a favorite nature preserve and had lunch at a favorite taqueria where we often went for lunch after church. We're now vegging until dinner with dfriends, the dfriends who visited us not long ago and with whom we went to Italy a couple years ago. Austin is a great city! It's greatest drawback is the heat in the summer.

[Sunny]

Quick check in to say hi.

We've weathered the topical storm pretty well here in our area. We've had a 2 1/2 ft storm surge during the last high tide and about 3 inches of rain. It had rained steady from late afternoon yesterday through lunchtime today, but we had no lightning or thunder. It was fairly windy this morning and afternoon, though it is just breezy now. I think Harmony might have had more of the stormy weather, and maybe Dee's dd. The weather channel has a meteorologist at N. Redington Beach, one of our local beaches.

We were up early and out of the house before 8 am for dgd18 graduation ceremony, which was very nice. The speeches were pretty good and not too long. There were about 300 graduates, so it was two hours in all. Found out when we were leaving that our county had been under a tornado warning during that time. Ddil's parents had come and left right after it was over to go home again. They live about 3 hours north of us just where the storm was to come. The roads leading to their area flood easily and they were worried about getting through before that happened. Ddil has a picnic planned at a local park for dgd's grad party.

We came right home then and had a bite of lunch. We were both sleepy so both took a nap. When I woke up I had a headache, so took some aspirin before eating dinner. It's not too bad now, but I'm sitting quiet.

Kathryn, your trip sounded nice if all had worked out better for everyone.

Hugs for ((Dee)) in remembrance of ddShelly. Good to hear that dh is still improving and has such a good attitude.

Think I'll get another cup of tea.

[Kathryn-in-Canada]

It is very cold here and I had sat still all afternoon on the call with dd so I had tea and put on the fireplace after dinner was very good - steak and fried potatoes. I had asked dh to take me out and then realized I'd prefer that dinner so asked him to cook for me instead. I was out last night with my sister and he had Chinese then so it was about time for another home cooked meal.

After dinner I also did the weekly kitchen chores and am running the dishwasher.

Dh and I will head off to bed early tonight and hopefully I'll be super productive tomorrow. I need to start packing for the trip since we leave in a week. Having gained 7 pounds in the past 3 weeks is a real issue since more of my wardrobe is borderline unwearable.

The bra situation is also critical and I don't want to spend hours and hours, again, shopping for something. Walmart was useless so I'm heading off to a department store at some point to throw money at the problem. At Walmart, throwing money at the problem wasn't an option - they were well stocked for 40x upwards and for the 32, 34 sizes (I'm assuming a large Asian population in that area) but the middle sizes were almost all unavailable and since they under-staff that department and hang up the bras rather than keep them in boxes in the drawers everything was jumbled together. They only had one convertible bra (what I was shopping for) and not in my size. It doesn't help that my size has changed from 36B to 38C but they still didn't have anything for me to choose from. And apparently, beige bras (flesh colour for me) are no longer easy to get. My choice is black or white. I'm ok with black but I need flesh coloured for a number of outfits, white won't do.

If my greater girth is the issue, I'm thinking I can tear apart two bras and make one (or maybe find a band expander.)

[Twins' Mom]

I am home again and tired. Left the house at 8:15, met w rabbi, went by dentist and my office and hit the road around 10:15 or 10:30, I don't remember.

Nursing home is an older facility but staff was very warm and positive. The facility passed the smell test and I will do paperwork over the weekend. They told me about the quiet older lady who will be her room mate who has lived there for 30 years. I feel better about the move but I feel tired and some what wretched about it all. I called dnephew and her xdh and told them about the facility and move.

[Harriet]

What a lovely way you expressed where your home is, Nancy. Reading it makes me miss ellyphant, since she and I share a river in common, from which she moved in adulthood.

Dee, that was such a sweet opening.

Sorry, interrupted again.

[OKay]

(((Twins)))

I'm posting for accountability. I am tired and would love nothing more than to sleep but need to keep going. I can't seem to get stuff done fast enough.

I did brown the chili meat and get it seasoned. I'll let it set overnight in the refrig and simmer it tomorrow.
I did clean up the kitchen
I did attend DH family gathering including caring for the 6 little ones while they played outside.
I did get the veg garden minimally watered enough (hopefully) so the plants don't die of thirst. Also picked asparagus before it grew as tall as Jack's Bean stalk.

Next up - tackle MPB daily receipts. They were stacked up until the pile fell over.

[Kathryn-in-Canada]

I'm heading up to bed now. Got another accounting email answered.

Got sidetracked looking at available apartments in the complex we want. Took my sister by there yesterday - she was completely negative, as usual but the comment that amused me the most was that with 2 bedroom apartments easily 6 people could live in one making the place into a ghetto. As if there are lots of gated ghettos in our city!

At the same time it was too far to walk to anything. Yes, that's true, we can't just walk over to a charming restaurant (and the nearest shopping is just over a mile) but the flip side is that it is surrounded by parkland (open space that I feel I'll need, especially since I'm moving from the country) and it has free parking for visitors. I figure it being a far walk from the university means we won't have lots of student neighbours and the high rent eliminates the chances of having a crack house in the next apartment. Being right at a transit station means we can take the bus to restaurants, or shopping, or entertainment so we can leave the car in the garage whenever we don't feel like driving.

As usual, I am not looking at specific units I'll be renting, just assuring myself that at any time I can easily find two or three to choose from so when we are ready to sign an lease, there'll be something appropriate (or perhaps even perfect) for us.

[OKay]

Did it!! 8 days processed. Big relief to get this done!

I'm going to stop for the night.

Helia - I am so thankful for people like your DH. Obviously talented, smart and at the top of his field. He has much more to accomplish and keeps pushing forward.

Harmony - I am frustrated with insurance & medical cost that keeps people from getting test/treatment. ((((Hugs))))

Tomorrow is going to be busy. busy. busy. At last count, there will be 16 here for supper. I hope I can pull this meal off with no big catastrophes. Thankfully everyone attending is VDFriends so even if I blow it.....they will laugh with me and forgive me.

[ellyphant]

Hi all! Didn't mean to disappear...have been reading a lot and just don't get around to posting. HARRIET, you are so sweet to remember that we share a river!! I also recall that KALLY's brother used to live near the river where I live now.

Got the "all clear" from my doctor this week. Glad to see MR. DEE is doing well.

Did one load of laundry today and made brownies and potato salad for our cookout tomorrow night. Have invited some friends over. Then Saturday night we are going out with another couple. Looking forward to this. DH and I have sat home enough lately. Might even do something crazy (for us), like go to a movie!

BTW, got some of that cherry candy from T ractor Supply. So glad to have learned about that here!

Will be helping DD look for an apartment in another state next week. Must remember to get the oil changed in my car before that trip. She has searched out the ones she wants to see online. I guess she just wants me there for moral support.